Apparatus for securing supporting spline strips



Oct. 9, 1956 s. E. SORENSON 2,765,465

APPARATUS FOR SECURING SUPPORTING SPLINE STRIPS Filed June 1, 1954 Fi .2 1/, r16 9 I 9 Fig.8

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100 By Stanley E. Sor'enson Fig.9 MJ '3 /2 Ha attorneys APPARATUS FOR SECURING SUPPORTING SPLINE STRIPS Stanley E. Sorenson, Seattle, Wash., assignor to Eugene F. Gaines, Joplin, Mo.

Application June 1, 1954, Serial No. 433,356

6 Claims. (Cl. 1-49) My invention relates to apparatus for securing a supporting spline strip for a pair of abutting panels, such as acoustical tiles grooved along opposite sides, to a furring strip or some other suitable support, and is a continuationin-part of my co-pending application Ser. No. 240,490, filed August 6, 1951, now abandoned.

Prior to my invention such a spline strip was usually secured in place by nails driven at an angle through the spline strip into the furring strip via the back lip of the tile, and namely the lip lying between the spline strip and the furring strip. Such a nailing procedure has been found objectionable because the projecting side edge of the spline strip onto which the next tile is to be fitted usually is bent toward the furring strip as the nails are driven so that it is diflicult to install the next tile. The procedure also meets with objection because it is difficult to drive the nails without damaging the front exposed edge of the panel. Furthermore, some tiles are too hard for a ready passage of nails therethrough and/ or so brittle as to preclude nailing without fracturing the tile.

Accordingly, this invention aims to provide a simple improved apparatus whereby a spline strip can be rapidly secured to a furring strip or other support in substantial parallel relation thereto and at a predetermined distance therefrom defined by the thickness of the back lip of the acoustical tiles or other grooved panels to be supported by the spline strip without passing an object through the panels.

Other more particular objects and advantages will, together with these general objects, appear and be understood in the course of the following description and claims, the invention consisting in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a section of an acoustical tile ceiling with certain parts broken away and installed by my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my spacing attachment.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing the spline strip preparatory to stapling.

Fig. 5 is a side view of a stapling machine equipped with my spacing attachment driving a staple through the spline strip of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 77 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken as indicated by line 88 of Fig. 4, but with the staple driven and the stapling machine and spacer attachment removed; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken as Fig. 2 and illustrating a modified panel.

Referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that a plurality of acoustical tiles 10 are suspended beneath parallel runs of furring strips 11, spaced a tile width apart, by support- 2,765,465 Patented Oct. 9, 1956 ing spline strips 12 which fit into grooves 13 formed along the sides of the tiles. These grooves 13 are defined between front and back lips 14 and 15, respectively. The spline strips 12 are spaced by the thickness of a back lip 15 from the furring strips and are secured to the latter by staples 16. Cross splines 171 extend between the furring strips in the groove 13 and are used for leveling purposes only, they having no physical connection with the furring strips.

Assuming that the tile 10a is held in position with its back lip 15 resting against the front face of the furring strip 11 and that the tile 10b is the next tile to be installed, the supporting spline 12 is then inserted into thegroove 13 as shown in Fig. 4 leaving about half or" its width projecting therebeyond. As the next installation steps I place a spacer above the projecting half of the spline 12 to hold it away from the furring strip and then drive a staple 16 through the spline and close to the tile 10a. There are a great variety of hand and air tackers or staplers on the market which are satisfactory for driving the staples 16 or nail equivalents, and so for purposes of example I have illustrated a hand stapler 17 having an operating handle 19 which, when pressed by the operator as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 5, causes a hammer 18 located in a driving head 20 to drive a staple from the nose of the driving head into an object adjacent such nose and aligned with the hammer. As an adjunct for the stapler 17 I provide a spacing attachment 21 which has a base 22 and spaced sides 23 extending at right angles to the base. These sides are formed with fore and aft slots 24, 25 for receiving locking screws 26, 27, respectively. The front end of the base 22 projects beyond the sides 23 by a foot 28 having a pair of toes 29 which are spaced apart at 30 at least the width of a staple 16.

When the spacing attachment is in operative position on the stapler 17, its sides 23 straddle the sides 31 of the stapler and the locking screws 26, 27 are adjusted within the slots 24, 25 and tightened to space the foot 28 from the nose of the driving head 20 by a gap corresponding to the thickness of the supporting spline strips 12. The space 30 between the toes 29 is aligned with the travel path of the staples driven by the hammer 18 so that the staples will pass between the toes as best shown in Fig. 6. In this regard the outer end portion 32 of the foot between the toes is located as close as possible to the staple travel path.

With its spacing attachment thus secured, the stapler is moved endwise across the furring strip 11 to introduce first the toes 29 and then the foot proper 28 between the projecting portion of the spline strip 12 and the furring strip and thus bring such projecting portion between the nose of the driving head 20 and the foot 28. To aid in their introduction, the toes 29 desirably have their tips rounded. Movement of the stapler is continued until the front face of its driving head bears against the front lip 14 of the tile 10a so that when the staple 16 is driven in response to a pressing of the handle 19 it will be located as close to the tile as the driving mechanism will permit. As the staple is driven it passes through the spline strip, between the toes 29, and into the furring strip until the center section of the staple is urged against the front face of the spline strip. During this operation, the foot 28 and its toes together with the back lip 15 of the tile keep the spline strip in spaced parallel relation to the furring strip in the vicinity of the staple being driven. The stapler is then moved endwise in a reverse direction to remove the foot 28 from between the spline and furring strips. After several staples 16 have thus been driven at spaced intervals along the length of the spline strip, the next tile 10b can be inserted over the projecting side edge portion of the spline strip into abutment with the tile 10a as shown in Fig. 2. In this latter regard, when the front and back lips it, 15 of the tiles are substantially the same length as is common, it is necessary to compress somewhat the back lip 15 of the tile b in the vicinity of the legs of the staples so that the front lips 14- of the two tiles can be brought into abutment. This is easily done when the. tile material is relatively soft and for the harder tiles I propose the modified tile 100 shown in Fig. 9 wherein the back lip 15a is shorter than the front lip 14a so that the back lip of the tile lfitla which is inserted over the stapled spline strip 12 will not engage the staples before the front lips of the tiles 1%, 100a are brought together.

It will be self evident that the foot 28 can be provided as an integral part of a tacker or stapler-instead of on an attachment therefor. Likewise it is obvious that one or both of the toes29can be omitted from the foot or that the foot can be otherwise modified without departing from the scope of my invention and still provide sufficient spacing support for the spline strip in the region or" the staple being driven andv yet out of the travel path of the legs of the staple.

It is thought that the invention will havebeen clearly understood from the foregoing detailed description. Since minor changes in the details of construction will suggest themselves to anyone skilled in the art without departing from the nature of my invention, this invention is not limited to the exact details above. described except as defined in the appended. claims.

What I claim is:

1. A device for use in attaching splinestrips including a fastener inserting implement having a throat, a spacer member on the bottom part of the implement having a part spaced from the bottom of the implement for supporting a spline strip, said part extending rearwardly beyond the throat of the implement and including a plurality of spaced extensions projecting beyond the throat and providing rearwardly extending wallsto guide the penetrating ends of a fastener inserted by the implement after they have been driven through the spline strip.

2. In a device for securing to a supporting structure a spline strip having one of its side edges overlying a lip formed along a side edge of a panel which bears against said supporting structure. and having its other side edge projecting beyondsaid panel. in spaced relation to said supporting structure, a stapling machine having at its front end a driving head and operable to. drive staples from the nose of said head, and a spacing attachment mounted on said machine and formed with a base plate, two side members connected. to said base. plate and straddling said machine, and a pair of projecting toes on said base plate, said toes being located in non-obstructing adjacency to the travel path of the legs of the staple being driven and being spaced from said nose of the driving head by a gap which extends rearwardly well beyond the travel path of the staple being driven, whereby said device can be removably positioned against said supporting structure with the projecting side edge of said spline strip extending into said gap rearwardly beyond the travel path of the staple which is to be driven and bearing against said toes so that the staple, when driven, passes through the spline strip into the supporting structure while the spline strip is sustained in spaced relation to the latter by said lip of the panel and said foot.

3. In a device for securing to a supporting structure a spline strip having one of its side edges overlying a lip formed along a side edge of a panel which bears against said supporting structure and having at its other side edge projecting beyond said panel in spaced relation to said supporting structure, a stapling machine having at its front end a driving head and operable to drive a staple from the nose of said head, and a pair offorwardly projecting toes provided by said machine and occupying a position subjacent to said nose, each of said toes being located in non-obstructing adjacency to the travel path of a respective leg of the staple being driven and being spaced from said nose of the driving head by a gap which is open to the front end of the machine and which extends rearwardly well beyond the travel path of the staple being driven, whereby said device can be removably positioned against said supporting structure with the projecting side edge of said spline. strip extending into the gap rearwardly beyond the travel path of the staple which is to be driven and bearing against said toes so that the staple, when driven, passes through the spline strip at a point well removed from its said projecting edge and into the supporting structure while the spline strip is sustained in spaced relation to the latter by said lip of the panel and by said foot.

4. The combination with an implementfor driving fasteners having a penetrating part, said implement having a fastener-ejecting throat adjacent the front end thereof, of a spacing block secured to said implement and having a spline support projecting in spaced relationship from the plane of the mouth of said throat from a position substantially rearwardly of said mouth to provide a gap in which the spline is received, and said spline support being provided with a wall immediately rearward of said mouthof the staple driver to provide guiding surfaces for the. legs of the staples being driven. for attaching the spline strip in place.

5. The combinationv with an implement for driving staples having a bridge and depending legs, said implement having a staple-ejecting throat adjacent the front end thereof, said throat having a mouth at its lower end; of a spacing block secured to said implement and having a lip projecting forwardly beneath the front portion of said implement from a-position' substantially rearward of the plane of said throat, said lip being. spaced from the plane of said mouth to provide a gap between said lip and the plane of said mouth, said gap being open from the front thereof to said rearward position, and at least part of said lip having its forward terminus located rearwardly of the travel path of staples ejected from said throat, and said part of said lipbeing aligned in the front to rear direction with travel path of the-legs at least of such staples.

6. A device for concurrently supporting a spline in spaced relationship from, and driving staples through the spline into a supporting structure, comprising, a stapling machine including a body out ofwhich staples are ejected downward through a mouth at its lower front corner, a spline support carried bysaid body and projecting forwardly therebeneath from a positionsubstantially rearward of said mouth and having a portion aligned in the front to rear direction with the travel path of a staple ejected from said mouth, said spline support being spaced downwardly from the plane of said mouth to provide a gap in which a substantial part of the spline is received and accommodated rearwardly of said mouth, said aligned portion having its forward terminus-located rearwardly of said travel path.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,945,377 Posnack Jan. 30, 1934 2,080,912 Guy May 18, 1937 2,328,051 Bull Aug. 31, 1943 2,362,252 Ellinwood Nov. 7, 1944 2,556,992 Wandel June 12, 1951 2,637,030 Wickman et a1 May 5, 1953 

